Search form

Rick Scott

Rick Scott is a Canadian philosopher-geek who's profoundly interested in how we can collaborate to make technology work better for everyone. Rick's an incorrigible idealist, an open source contributor, and a staunch believer in testing, universal access, and the hacker ethic. When he's not in front of a computer, you'll find Rick out on the hiking trails, in the kitchen turning out cupcakes, or cleaning up his viola technique in the basement.

CONNECT WITH Rick Scott

ALL STORIES BY Rick Scott

Arguably the first general purpose scripting language, the first version of the Perl programming language was publicly released on December 18, 1987, by its creator, Larry Wall. Rick Scott details the programming language's historical significance, strengths, culture, and relevance today.

Software testing is an intellectually challenging activity. Our effectiveness as testers depends on the clarity, creativity, and organization of our thinking. However, teaching yourself to think better is an interesting challenge. Many people find keeping a notebook is helpful.

The technology world is obsessed with the latest and greatest. This doesn't come as a surprise. After all, we're all about innovation and building something better today than we built yesterday. Are there times when choosing a mediocre option—or even the worst option—makes sense?

Many bugs arise not because of a failure of effort, but because of a failure of imagination—nobody thought of the combination of events that makes them occur. Rick Scott looks at testing and what differentiates people who are creative problem solvers, inventors, and engineers—the makers.

Dealing with groups of bugs is one of the places where conventional bug-tracking systems often fall down. Enter bug chaining, an idea originating in the security testing community, that combines different bugs of low severity to create a defect of high severity.

The technological progress engendered by the tech industry seems to be accepted as an unmitigated good—one that excuses a fairly broad swath of potential shortcomings. Should the pursuit of innovation excuse you from complying with the laws of the land? Is this moral bankruptcy or just business?

The prevailing way of justifying workplace benefits is to paint them as a vital tool to attract and retain staff in a competitive marketplace. If we look at things more holistically though, we can view these benefits as one component of building a company where people actually like to work.

By making a software conference inclusive, you avoid perpetuating the stereotypes that only certain people are good at technology. You're also helping to grow the pool of people who see a career in the computer industry as a possibility. Rick Scott looks at why diversity is beneficial for everyone.

It's undeniable that we experience the offline and the online worlds in drastically different ways. Perhaps this difference is what leads us to feel as though the online and offline worlds are two separate things. This digital dualism leads many to think that anything that happens online is trivial.

The unfortunate truth is that the find-and-patch approach to security is inherently problematic—the attacker is always one step ahead. Reducing your attack surface is a strategy that will help you minimize the number of security threats you are exposed to, whether they are promptly fixed or not.

Pages

TechWell To Go

Get the latest stories from TechWell delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. In addition, you will begin to receive special offers and product communications from SQE/TechWell (you may unsubscribe at any time).